Safe Pocket
Send and receive money around the world freely.
Enjoy free transfers and the lowest cross-border rates.
Project Brief
Goals
Safe Pocket is an online banking service that encourages users to pay bills, manage bank accounts online, make and receive payments in different currencies without being charged a high conversion rate.
Team: Solo
Timeline: 5 weeks
1) Create an easy-to-understand data visualization for users
2) Make key functions accessible
3) Enhance cybersecurity
4) Customization and personalization
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Kickoff
Starting off, I asked myself a few initial questions. Who is the primary user? What kind of goals do they have? Why would someone want to use this application? After interviewing fifteen participants to establish archetypes later on, it became evident that the goals they wanted to accomplish all fell within the same categories: making and receiving payments in different currencies, ordering virtual cards, paying bills online and managing finance.
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Evaluating the Activity
Just how popular is mobile banking in general? According to Statista, across all platforms including Chase, Bank of America, and more, close to 2.1 billion users used in 2021 alone. Online and mobile banking are projected to be used by over 2.5 billion users in 2024.
An additional survey conducted in 2021 in the United States, in fact, revealed that 77 percent of respondents would be willing to switch to a digital-only bank.
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With this in mind, it became clear that people's need for online and mobile banking is not going anywhere, anytime soon.
Source: Statista, May 2022.
Competitive Analysis
In order to construct a concise and solid foundation for Safe Pocket, I identified what the prominent finance applications were already doing and what user goals they were not prioritizing. What I took away were:
1. Offering a customization option helps users save time by grouping the tasks they prioritize.
2. Having a quick action menu in the Home screen helps with navigating.
3. Using modular blocks to present pieces of information can best utilize the space.
Meet the Users
Akari is a student from Japan who is pursuing a Master's degree in the United States. She just landed an internship and looks forward to sending money to her parents back home quickly using online banking, but has a hard time finding an application that does not charge her a high amount of conversion rate.
Nam is a software engineer who works remotely and often travels to conferences in different countries. He wants to open currency accounts and move money freely between them, and is looking for an application that allows him to do this.
Information Architecture
Ideation
Before moving onto high fidelity wireframes and mockups, I wanted to get a feel for what the core of the app would look like when put in front of me.
Prototype
Style Guide
Utilizing accents of green felt like the perfect fit for Safe Pocket's branding. The green creates a feeling of prosperity, wealth, harmony and freshness. Users are naturally pulled towards green, as green is also associated with our environment. It is considered the most restful and relaxing color for the human eye. To have the right balance of not too much green, I added a hint of blue to create the primary color.
I chose Montserrat for headlines and Lato for body text. I felt these fonts best fit the app for their modernist and simplicity that is fresh, light and easy on the eyes.
User testing
I developed a click-through prototype on Figma to conduct usability tests to get an in-depth understanding of how users interact with the interface. I did 30 tests in total during three weeks with users who frequently used online banking mobile apps. I mapped out a user testing plan, designed tasks in the prototype and observed each user complete the tasks through both screen sharing on zoom and in-person, then asked for feedback at the end of each session. I received good and surprising reactions and also some areas of improvement that I later implements into the final design. I really enjoyed talking to users, showing them the new design, and seeing their reactions. It motivates me to make thoughtful design decisions that benefit my users.
Next steps
1. Learn how to design contactless and voice payment options for Safe Pocket.
2. Plan a cost optimization tool for budget planning and savings.
3. Design a feature that helps users detect ATMs and bank branches within walking distance.
Reflection
Working on Safe Pocket from the beginning was incredibly rewarding. As it was my first fintech app design, I spent a lot of time on research and user testing to understand the best way to create a seamless experience. By proactively asking for feedback, I was able to make improvements and think deeper about the meaning of each detail of my design. There are many potential functions that can be added to make Safe Pocket more intuitive and accessible that I look forward to exploring.
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